Elegant 5-Layer Mousse Cake – How to Make Orange Hazelnut Entremet

This Orange Hazelnut Entremet (mousse cake) is a refined combination of orange and hazelnut flavours, complemented by layers of dark and milk chocolate mousse. Each component balances the others in both texture and taste, creating a harmonious dessert suitable for any occasion. The double-insert approach reduces preparation time by more than half, while the quantities allow you to produce two cakes instead of one – ideal for serving guests, practicing glazing techniques, or keeping a finished cake ready in the freezer. The inserts themselves are versatile and can also be used in other cakes or tarts. This is a gluten free entremet recipe, and you can double the sponge layers if you prefer a higher cake-to-mousse ratio.

Mousse cake video tutorial

If you’re a visual learner, the video tutorial below will make this recipe even easier to understand. Watching the textures, assembly steps, and timing in real time helps everything click, especially if you’re making this style of dessert for the first time. 

Orange Hazelnut Entremet

Makes 2 cakes (180 mm diameter x 45 mm height).Total volume: 1000 ml (built using Pavoni KE024 Planet silicone mould).

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Prep Time 2 hours hrs

Cook Time 2 hours hrs

FREEZING & DEFROSTING 21 hours hrs

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Servings 16

Calories 450 kcal

Ingredients

  

Hazelnut dacquoise (for 2 x 15 cm moulds)

• 110 g Toasted hazelnuts
• 12 g Icing sugar
• 20 g Cornflour
• 1 g Salt
• 80 g Egg whites
• Pinch Cream of tartar
• 47 g Caster sugar

Cocoa crunch (for 2 x 15 cm moulds)

• 6 g Cocoa butter
• 40 g White chocolate
• 65 g Hazelnut praline
• 65 g Cocoa nibs
• Zest of 1 – Lime

Orange jelly (for 2 x 15 cm moulds)

• 120 g Orange purée
• 50 g Passionfruit purée
• 110 g Orange segments
• 11 g Cornflour
• 88 g Caster sugar
• 5.5 g Gelatine powder platinum
• 35 g Cold water to bloom gelatine

Orange cremeux (for 2 x 15 cm moulds)

• 80 g Orange purée
• 59 g Passionfruit purée
• 80 g Egg yolks approx. 5 yolks
• 68 g Sugar
• 2 g Gelatine powder platinum
• 12 g Cold water to bloom gelatine
• 65 g Unsalted butter

Hazelnut mousse (for 2 x 18 cm moulds)

• 200 g full cream milk
• 20 g honey
• 8 g gelatine powder
• 47 g water
• 30 g hazelnut paste 100% or hazelnut praline
• 130 g Milk chocolate
• 190 g Dark chocolate
• 380 g heavy cream 35%

Orange segments jelly

• 25 g sugar
• 1 g agar agar
• 110 g orange juice
• 25 g honey
• 4 g gelatine powder platinum
• 24 g cold water

Mirror glaze (for 2 mousse cakes)

• 8 g powdered gelatine
• 50 g cold water
• 125 g sugar
• 60 g water
• 125 g glucose
• 80 g sweetened condensed milk
• 125 g white chocolate
• Few drops orange food colour

Instructions

 

Hazelnut dacquoise

• Pulse hazelnuts (reserve 10 g for garnish), icing sugar, cornflour, and salt in a food processor until fine.
• Whip egg whites with cream of tartar to soft peaks. Gradually add caster sugar, whip to semi-stiff peaks.
• Fold egg whites into hazelnut mixture until uniform.
• Line tray with parchment. Pipe 2 discs (15 cm, 10 mm nozzle) or spread into silicone moulds.
• Bake 160 °C (320 °F) fan forced, 15 minutes, until set and lightly golden. Cool completely.

Cocoa crunch

• Melt cocoa butter and white chocolate, mix.
• Stir in hazelnut praline, cocoa nibs, and lime zest.
• Spread evenly over dacquoise discs.
• Freeze completely before assembly.

Orange jelly

• Cut orange segments.
• Combine purées and segments in pot.
• Mix sugar and cornflour, add gradually to cold purées.
• Boil 1 minute, remove from heat.
• Stir in gelatine mass.
• Pour into 15 cm mould, freeze until firm.

Orange cremeux

• Warm purées and zest in pot.
• Whisk sugar and yolks.
• Gradually add purées to yolks, return to pot.
• Cook to anglaise, 82 °C (180 °F).
• Remove from heat, add gelatine mass.
• Cool to 45 °C (113 °F), add butter.
• Blend until smooth.
• Pour over frozen jelly layer, freeze.

Hazelnut mousse

• Semi-whip the cream, keep refrigerated.
• Heat milk and honey to simmer, about 80 °C (176 °F). Add gelatine mass.
• Pour over chocolate and hazelnut paste.
• Blend until smooth.
• Cool to 28 °C (82 °F). Fold in whipped cream in several additions.
• Assemble cake with inserts: pipe hazelnut mousse (~1 cm), place jelly-cremeux double insert, pipe more mousse (~5 mm), place second double insert. Ensure crunch layer remains at the base.
• Freeze for 7 hours or overnight.

Orange segments jelly

• Dissolve the gelatine in cold water.
• Combine the agar with the sugar.
• Pour the orange juice and honey into a saucepan, then add the sugar‑and‑agar mixture.
• Bring to a boil and cook for 30 seconds.
• Add the gelatine mass and mix to dissolve.
• Pour into an orange segment silicone mould and freeze.

Mirror Glaze

• Hydrate powdered gelatine in cold water and set aside to bloom.
• In a small saucepan, combine sugar, water, and glucose. Bring to 103°C, stirring gently.
• Remove from heat. Add the sweetened condensed milk, followed by the bloomed gelatine. Stir until completely dissolved.
• Pour the hot mixture over the white chocolate in a tall jug or container. Let sit briefly.
• Blend with a stick blender, keeping the blade fully submerged to prevent air bubbles.
• Add red food colouring and blend again until fully incorporated and smooth.
• Let the glaze cool to around 32°C. Check fluidity and pour directly over frozen mousse cakes for best shine.

Video

Keyword entremet, hazelnut entremet, hazelnut mousse cake, orange entremet, orange mousse cake

Orange and passion fruit purées for orange mousse cake

You can use professional fruit purées for this recipe, or products from the grocery store. To make orange purée, remove the segments, squeeze the juice, then blend with a stick blender until smooth. The purée can be prepared in advance and frozen for convenience. For passion fruit purée, frozen pulp is the most reliable option – strain through a sieve to remove seeds. Fresh passion fruit can be inconsistent in flavour and acidity.

In this dessert, both the orange jelly and orange cremeux benefit from the addition of passion fruit, which brings brightness, acidity, and subtle floral notes. This balance pairs particularly well with both dark and milk chocolate.

Hazelnut praline vs hazelnut paste vs hazelnut spread

Hazelnut praline in its classic form contains 50% toasted nuts and 50% caramelized sugar. Toasting develops the nut flavour, while caramelisation creates the characteristic deep taste and colour. The combination produces praline’s distinctive profile. Praline can also be made at home with a food processor, see tutorial here.

Hazelnut paste usually refers to 100% hazelnut butter, similar to peanut butter. It may be made from raw or toasted nuts – choose toasted for a fuller flavour. It contains no added oil and is intensely aromatic. Like praline, it can be prepared at home with a powerful food processor capable of producing a smooth paste.

Hazelnut spread is widely available in supermarkets under many brands. These spreads typically contain mostly sugar and oil, with hazelnuts comprising only about 10-13%. Substituting praline with hazelnut spread will result in a noticeably different flavour, sweetness level, and texture.

Commercial praline vs homemade praline

Professional praline and paste often taste different from homemade versions. High-quality commercial praline is produced using a melanger – a stone grinder with rotating granite rollers that refine the mixture for hours. This process reduces particle size to microscopic levels, creating a smoother texture and deeper flavour development than most domestic equipment can achieve.

Decorating Orange Hazelnut Entremet

For this orange mousse cake, I kept the decoration minimalistic – simple, neat, and reflective of the flavour profile so there’s less guesswork.

• Crushed nuts tucked neatly underneath (instead of a chocolate strip), because the eclipse‑shaped mould doesn’t allow a perfect connection for a chocolate strip, which is why I used nuts instead.
• A few hazelnuts on top
• Hazelnut husk for a very light look and to hide any glazing imperfections
• Candied orange peel: long strips simmered in a 1:1 sugar syrup for 10 minutes, then arranged on top
• Orange‑segment‑shaped jellies for colour and interest (more visually refined than fresh segments, and you can flavour them differently)

Double-layer approach for this mousse cake recipe

Traditionally, mousse cakes (entremets) are assembled by pouring each layer onto a previously frozen layer. A five-layer cake can therefore require multiple freezing stages, often extending the process to around 30 hours.

A double-layer approach significantly reduces the time. On the first day, bake the sponge and prepare the crunch layer, then freeze. Prepare the jelly and freeze until set while making the creamy insert. Once the cremeux is ready, pour it over the jelly layer and freeze again.

On the second day, prepare the main mousse and assemble the cake. This method produces a visually complex cake with multiple defined layers – even more if glazed – within two days without a blast freezer. It is an efficient technique for achieving a professional result without extended preparation time for any mousse cake recipe.

Gluten free entremet recipe tips

This is a gluten free entremet recipe, and you can double the sponge layers if you prefer a higher cake-to-mousse ratio and more structural body. Prepare additional sponge layers, then pour a layer of orange cremeux or orange jelly over a baked and chilled sponge and freeze completely.

This method creates two double inserts: a sponge with crunch for the base, and a sponge with a creamy layer as the middle insert, resulting in a more stable cake with clearly defined layers.

Craving more behind-the-scenes moments, step-by-step videos, and sneak peeks of upcoming recipes? Join me on Instagram @andbonbons for a closer look at the process, pastry tips, and plenty of chocolate inspiration.